The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1887-12-10
How TO Kill a Town.

Use as philosopher. ElHu tue
solid side of dry goods box and sit
and look wise and criticise every effort
of energetic public-spirited men for
promotion of the general good; i'm
pugn their motives, claim that a
swindle is contemplated by the pro-
motors, or that the enterprise is i'm
practical and sure to fail. People
will then think you are a man of
deep penetration, and should there
happen to be failure be sure to say,
Il told you So" but should a grand
success be the result, your prophesies
will be forgotten in the general re-
joicings, so that your reputation as a
prophet will not suffer. When a
stranger comes to town and proposes
to establish mandatory of some
kind, as soon as you hear of it slip
around quietly and whispers in the
ears of those who may listen to you
that the party is fraud, that he has
no money of his own, that he con-
templates q swindle on the people,
and, being wise man, that it is your
duty to warn against approaching
danger But should some of the wide
awake citizens see the benefits to be
derived by encouraging the enter
prise, and start a movement in that
direction, then kick, kick vigorously,
and as like attracts like, you may
soon surround yourself with whole
army of kickers, and be instrument
al in creating and crystalizing
sentiment strong enough to choke
the life out of the enterprise, and
thereby drive the stranger to more
public-spirited locality. Should you
be demonstrated with on your OPP
position to public enterprises, and
your attention called to the rapid
advancement ofother towns no better
situated naturally than your own, re-
ply that there is nothing there to build
up a town; that there is nothing sub
stantial about it; that the town is
forced up by artificial means, and
that q reaction will soon take place.
IT'S true that by SO doing you make
an assertion that only the future can
disprove, (if ever, and so, from your
stand point you are in possession of
the field. Should number of your
citizens unite in an effort to develop
the natural resources of your local
ity, be on hand with fund of advice
as to how the company should be
managed. 1t is true you may have
paucity of ideas on the subject,
but give them redundancy of words
ian article the kicker always has on
hand Be very careful not to take
stock in the enterprise, then people
will think that all your suggestions
are purely disinterested. After the
enterprise is on its feet begin to find
fault with the managers; should any
mistake occur, magnify them, darkly
hint to smaller stockholders that the
big fish will soon eat up the little
ones, that the whole thing is q fraud
badly managed and run by few in
their own private interests. You
may know nothing of the truth of
what you say, cut that makes no diff
ference, just hammer away at your
assertions and in time you may have
the satisfaction Of seeing your opin-
ions crystalizing into fact Tin the
minds of your hearers.) By persist
emily pursuing this course you may
succeed in crippling, if not destroy
ing, an enterprise that woald have
been of incalculable benefit to your
town.
The kicker may be in good cir
cumstances and perfectly satisfied
with things as they are, may be ap-
prehensive should a boom strike the
town Of having too strong compe-